Elderly People’s Expectations from a Housing Environment in the Context of Aging in Place: The Case of Afyonkarahisar
Global demographic changes are being experienced the most concretely in the 21st century. Academic studies on older people’s socioeconomic, cultural, and spatial needs have become increasingly important. This study aims to determine what elderly individuals aged 65 or older expect from the residential setting in Afyonkarahisar city center. To test the hypotheses, the study has applied a questionnaire to 374 elderly individuals in the sample area determined in the city center. The study uses explanatory factor analysis and difference tests, and the results of the research have identified that individuals aging in place care about the characteristics of their residential environment, such as accessibility, proximity to aging-related services, socioeconomic structure, environmental factors, and social networks and relationships. Education level and monthly income are important variables affecting what is expected from the residential environment. Older people’s expectations regarding accessibility to various services, socioeconomic structure, social networks and relationships in the residential environment have been shown to vary based on their education levels. Older people’s perspectives on social networks and relationships have also been shown to differ based on their monthly income.
Yerinde Yaşlanma Bağlamında Yaşlıların Konut Çevresinden Beklentileri: Afyonkarahisar Kenti Örneği
21. yüzyıl küresel demografik değişimlerin en somut yaşandığı dönemdir. Özellikle demografik yaş yapısındaki değişimler, yaşlılığın görüldüğü toplumlara göre yeni bir boyut ve anlam kazanmaktadır. Yaşlıların sosyoekonomik, kültürel ve mekânsal ihtiyaçlarına yönelik akademik çalışmaların önemi giderek artmaktadır. Yaşlılık döneminde bireylerin hayatlarını aynı konut ve çevresinde devam ettirmeleri, mental sağlıkları ve başarılı yaşlanmaları bağlamında önemli bulunmuştur. Bu yönüyle yerinde yaşlanmayı mümkün kılan yaşlıların ilgi ve ihtiyaçlarına yönelik çevresel düzenlemelere ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Bu çalışma, Afyonkarahisar kent merkezinde 65 yaş ve üzeri yaşlı bireylerin konut çevresinden beklentilerini belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma kapsamında amaca yönelik çeşitli hipotezler oluşturulmuştur. Hipotezleri test etmek için kent merkezinde belirlenen örneklem alanındaki 374 yaşlı bireye anket uygulanmıştır. Çalışmada, açıklayıcı faktör analizi ve fark testleri uygulanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda yerinde yaşlanan bireylerin erişilebilirlik, yaşlanma ile ilişkili hizmetlere yakınlık, sosyoekonomik yapı, çevresel faktörler, sosyal ağlar ve ilişkiler gibi konut çevresine ait özellikleri önemsediği tespit edilmiştir. Eğitim düzeyi ve aylık gelir konut çevresine yönelik beklentileri etkileyen önemli değişkenler arasındadır. Eğitim düzeyi yaşlıların konut çevresindeki çeşitli hizmetlere erişilebilirlik, sosyoekonomik yapı, sosyal ağlar ve ilişkilere yönelik beklentilerinin farklı olduğunu göstermiştir. Yaşlıların aylık gelirlerine göre sosyal ağlar ve ilişkilere bakış açılarının farklılaştığı anlaşılmıştır.
The world population is getting older. According to statistics, the rate at which the elderly population is increasing globally is more than double the current population growth rate. According to the United Nations (UN, 2019), the percentage of people aged 65 or older, who had accounted for 6% of the world population in 1990, increased to 9.1% in 2019 with 703 million elderly people. The global elderly population reached 727 million in 2020, making up 9.3% of the total population (UN, 2020). By 2022, the global population aged 65 or older exceeded 771 million, more than three times what the number had been in 1980 (258 million). In 2022, about 10% of the world’s population is aged 65 or older. In the coming years, the elderly population is expected to reach approximately 12% of the population in 2030 and 16% in 2050 (UN, 2022). The most striking point in terms of these statistical values calculated globally is that women, who constitute the majority of the elderly, live longer than men (UN, 2020). In Türkiye, the elderly population’s percentage of the total population had been 4.2% in 1985, 5.7% in 2000 and 7.2% in 2010. This percentage has increased to 9.9% as of 2022 (Turkish Statistical Institute [TurkStat], 2019, 2020, 2023).
This study aims to examine what the population aged 65 or older expects from a residential environment in the context of urban aging and aging in place in Afyonkarahisar from a geographical perspective along the axis of the individual-environment-space relationship. In this respect, the study tries to determine elderly individuals’ expectations from a residential environment in the city of Afyonkarahisar using the literature on aging in place. This thesis study has adopted the quantitative research design for this purpose. Before obtaining the quantitative data, those aged 65 or over living in the urban area were categorized in narrowly spaced groups (i.e. 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-85, and 85+), and then their spatial distributions were revealed. As a result, quantitative data have been obtained within the aging-inplace theory framework and compared with the relevant literature.
The study takes into consideration the 58 neighborhoods as of 2019 within the city center boundaries of Afyonkarahisar Municipality; these had previously been villages and were included within the municipality’s borders through legal arrangements that had been made (Map 2). Among the age groups aged 65 or older living in the central neighborhoods of Afyonkarahisar, the study surveyed 374 elderly individuals only in communities with populations exceeding 500 based on the age group data as shared by TurkStat, and this was done in the context of data confidentiality and security.
The relationship between older people’s expectations from a residential environment in the research area and aging in place is seen to have five dimensions: accessibility, proximity to aging-related services, socioeconomic structure, environmental factors, and social network and relationships. According to the t-test results, it was determined that there was a difference between the perception of the statements of the participants regarding the accessibility factor and the importance they attach to this factor according to gender groups and whether they are retired or not. On the other hand, there is no difference in this factor in the case of those who live alone among older people. According to the factor analysis results, the accessibility factor does not differ between age groups. In this context, regarding the accessibility expectations of the age groups, it can be said that the elderly and older age groups have similar perspectives on the services around the dwelling. Among the participants, there is a significant difference between the level of education and the expectations of those who receive a “65 years wage” regarding the proximity to services related to old age around the dwelling. The expectations of the participants with lower educational levels and receiving “65 years wage” to be close to the services related to old age were higher than those with higher educational levels and economic income. However, no significant difference was found in the marital status variable. It is observed that there is a substantial difference between the educational level of the elderly population and their perspectives on the socioeconomic structure in the neighborhood where they reside. As the level of education increases, the perception and importance of the socioeconomic structure around the residence by the participants also increases. Among older people, the importance given to social networks and relationships around the residence by the participants with low monthly income levels differs from those with high monthly income levels.
